1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a wearable fishing rod holder which is adapted to support a fly fishing rod, as well as other types of rods.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is frequently necessary or desirable for a fisherman to have a means for supporting the fishing rod in order to free both hands. The fisherman can then use both hands for activities such as baiting a hook, securing or removing artificial lures from the line, attaching hooks to the line, attaching additional leaders or weights to the line, unsnarling knots in the line, removing foreign objects from the hook or for other purposes directly related to the activity also making it desirable to have both hands available.
It has been known to hold a rod between one's arm and body or, when fishing from land or on a boat, to put the rod down Such approaches, while frequently workable, are not ideal in that the rod may move uncontrollably either under the influence of a fish which might be hooked during the period, as a result of rocking of the boat or as a result of the contour of the land on which it was placed. Further, one cannot put the rod down when one is standing in a stream.
Various forms of wearable rod holders designed to be used with casting reels, spinning reels or other reels which are positioned at a substantial distance from the butt end of the rod have been known. These devices have not been adapted for securement of a fly fishing rod which has the reel positioned at or adjacent the butt end of the rod, as these devices have required end-to-end relative sliding insertion of the butt end of the rod into a close ended tubular member. See generally, U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,174,319; 1,198,202; 1,451,732; 2,298,694; 2,954,909 and 3,874,573.
A further problem of the known systems is that they frequently are of rather complex construction and awkward to employ. See, generally, U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,198,202; 2,537,456; 709,544; 2,846,129 and 2,954,909.
There remains, therefore, a significant need for a wearable fishing rod holder which is adapted to be employed with fly fishing rods, as well as other types of fishing rods.